Letter to President Droupadi Murmu on India’s 75th Anniversary of Independence
On India’s 75th anniversary of independence, writers and creatives urge Indian President Droupadi Murmu to defend free expression in India. More
India at 75 | Contributors N – R
Authors from India and the Indian diaspora reflect on the state of free expression in India in its 75th year of independence. More
PEN America’s Commitment to Health and Safety at the 2021 PEN America Literary Gala
Updated Sept. 21, 2021 To protect all in attendance, PEN America will enforce a robust set of health and safety measures for the 2021 PEN America Literary Gala in New… More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner Emma Shannon
There’s no real reason for things to happen, they just happen in whatever spontaneous order they happen in. What makes these things important is the meaning we assign to… More
An Interview with PEN/Robert J. Dau Prize Winner Yasmin Majeed
While writing, I was reckoning with my own feelings of powerlessness and anger, but above all I wanted to honor the long history of political resistance in Pakistan. More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Laura Warrell
It can be excruciating to live with uncertainty and, by creating stories, we can make sense of the nonsensical. We can decide how to act. We can move forward. More
Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s “Half of A Yellow Sun:” The danger of a single untold story
"Denying students age-appropriate opportunities to read Half of a Yellow Sun in classrooms because the truth is too violent is denying them the opportunity to understand the truth of… More
Banned in the USA Q&A: Varian Johnson asks if book bans are meant to ‘keep a certain population of our country down’
For Banned Book Week, PEN America interviews Varian Johnson, author of The Parker Inheritance, which has been banned twice in the 2021-2022 school year. More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Chen Chen
Art matters because it nourishes the heart. Like plums do. Like sunflowers. Like a good, long kiss in this brief, brief life. More
Interview with Stevie Wilson, an incarcerated writer in Pennsylvania
Before incarceration, I was an avid reader and understood the power of language and reading. Upon incarceration, I quickly figured out that the DOC wasn't going to provide the… More
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Pen America's Prison and Justice Writing celebrates the publication of Prince Shakur's (@prshakur) debut memoir, WHEN THEY TELL YOU TO BE GOOD (@Tin_House). Shakur will be in conversation with Jamal Joseph at @ptknitwear in NYC on Oct 6 at 7pm. RSVP here: https://pen.org/event/when-they-tell-you-to-be-good-prince-shakur-in-conversation-with-jamal-joseph/
DYK: Jarvis Jay Masters, author of "That Bird Has My Wings," the current @oprahsbookclub pick, previously won PEN America #PrisonWriting Award in 2005: https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a41169169/prison-justice-writing-pen-america/
We're delighted that "The Sentences That Create Us" edited by @caits_meissner is included in this 🧵
PEN America’s @AtRiskArtists today condemned the arrest of Iranian musician and poet #MonaBorzouei, who was taken into custody on September 28 by Iran’s security forces for reading a poem in support of the #MahsaAmini protests. https://pen.org/press-release/artists-at-risk-connection-condemns-cruel-detention-of-iranian-musician-for-sharing-a-poem-in-support-of-the-mahsa-amini-protests/